| my journal hasn't disappeared |
[Jul. 19th, 2005|12:18 pm] |
all my entries are now friends only, aside from the couple of old entries i've left public as a very potted and random view of my journal.
leave me a comment if you would like to friend me |
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| d-day update |
[Aug. 31st, 2004|07:16 pm] |
So we bought both these weird little slipper things we were told she needed and a pair of white soled runners for the gym. Then it turned out she needed one or the other for the gym and different slippers altogether for class. *sigh* i think it's going to be like this for quite a while til we work everything out! She said that some kids wore thongs in class, so i figure she can use hers until it gets colder. We had to go shopping again after school to get a school bag (and not the ones that cost over 100AUD), a pencil case with a fountain pen in it (yes, fountain pens are "obligatoire", and ball point pens are "interdit"), shorts for gym. We have yet to find a lunch box, drink bottle, a pair of scissors, slippers, and a few other things I'm sure I'm forgetting.
I was very excited to collect her after school and hear about the afternoon. She said some of the girls were nice to her, but that she had been completely silent all afternoon as she couldn't speak to any one (this is a very unusual state of affairs!!!) She is very impressed with the size of the gym, and the fact they have a pool and that she gets a real desk with a flip top lid and a whole lot of equipment, including a calculator. She said that when classes commenced she was told to just sit and amuse herself while the teacher conducted the class in french. I suggested she take one of her many school workbooks along so she could keep busy. she told me, no, she'd be fine staring into space, or playing with her fingers! I'm meeting with the teacher after school on thursday, so i think i'll suggest that she be encouraged to do some of her own work until she has some language skills to follow along... checkmate, baby :)
She presented me with a wad of information leaflets, full of school rules, holiday dates, contact info etc. So i was the one who ended up with homework, at the table with my dictionary out, translating the darn things. Her teacher seems nice. He's reasonably old and the first thing India noticed about him was the fact that he was smoking in the yard waiting for the kids to assemble after lunch. You'd never see a teacher smoking at home! heh heh
She's quite bouncy about it all now and has regained her sense of humour. She was laughing about what a pain she's going to be when she gets home, asking where the gym and the pool are, complaining that everything's in english and wanting to take her shoes off all the time. So now after a whole half day at school, she gets tomorrow off again... mon dieu... lucky i'll only be working part time.
All in all this school caper is quite the adventure for both of us :) |
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| I need some music to strip by :) |
[May. 31st, 2004|06:25 pm] |
I had a couple of hours work this afternoon at the forensic psychiatry unit, which is what used to be called a prison for the criminally insane. I'm glad i got there early as it took something like 20 minutes just to get through the security. makes getting through airports seem like a picnic! I had to fill out forms, then have my photo taken, then have several finger and thumb prints scanned and rechecked. they have an iris scan machine there as well, but apparently it's not up and running yet. then i had to get a locker for my mobile phone as i wasn't allowed to take that in. Then i had to go through the metal detector. I held up a queue of people as I set it off so many times, and i practically had to strip off to get through, heh heh. first my jacket went, then my rings, then my watch, then my belt (the guy first checked that my pants wouldn't fall down). i still set it off, and we figured it must be my earrings, but none of us could be bothered anymore, so they decided to let me through anyway. I mean, it was probably the wire in my bra and they weren't getting that off :) Then i had to wait for a visitor pass and run my thumb through the scanner again... even though the same guy was on the other side of the glass as 10 minutes earlier.
It was so much easier to get out... now i would have thought that was what should worry them the most :) |
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| ok, ok, i think there's a vacancy for a taxi story :) |
[Apr. 29th, 2004|11:47 pm] |
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Just got back after a night out in Khao San road. I've made friends with an Australian UN volunteer who started at UNHCR in Bangkok the same day as I did. She's never been to Bangkok before so we decided to spend an evening at Khaosan so she could see where all the western tourists hang out. sort of watching the people watching the people. second generation watching :) Anyhow, it was a nice evening drinking, eating and talking, and then we caught a taxi back to the apartments. Well, would you believe that it is possible to drive a taxi in central Bangkok at any time of the day or night at 120kms an hour? F**K!!!!! I'm still shaking a bit 30 minutes after getting out of the cab. When i realised what he was doing, i leant forward and told him in my sternest voice to stop it, trying not to sound too panicked. The look he gave me can only be described as evil and sadistic. and he continued to gun it whenever he could, but 80 was all he managed after that and a close call with someone doing a U-turn in the middle of a main road. |
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